LAND OF THE CONQUEROR'S

Arabian Conqueror's Who Smashed both the Persian and the Roman Empires at the same time came from the land we know it today as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

What was Arabia Like before Islam ?

Arabia was a region that hosted a number of different cultures, some urban and others nomadic Bedouin warrior tribes. Arabian society was divided along Tribal and Clan lines with the most important divisions being between the "southern" and "northern" tribal associations. Both the Roman and Persian empires competed for influence in Arabia by sponsoring "Clients", and in turn Arabian tribes sought the patronage of the two rival empires to bolster their own ambitions. The Lakhmids Proxy covered parts of what is now southern Iraq and northern Saudi Arabia was a client of the Persians, In the other hands the Ghassanids Proxy covered south of Syria, Jordan and some parts of Palestine and Sinai in Egypt was a client of the romans.

The reason why the romans and persians planted proxies surrounding Arabia is to make sure these Arab Proxies will take care of the rebel nomadic Bedouin tribes in the middle of Arabia that were raiding and looting the trade cargos and the outskirts of Iraq and Syria. This way allowing the Arabs to be distracted and fight each other for land, water and resources and making sure no King in Arabia will unite the tribes for a single purpose.

A Prophet's Message

In late 620s Prophet Muhammad had already managed to unify much of Arabia under Muslim rule, and it was under his leadership that the first Muslim-Byzantine skirmishes. Just a few months after Heraclius and the Persian general Shahrbaraz agreed on terms for the withdrawal of Persian troops from occupied Byzantine eastern provinces in 629, Arab and Byzantine troops confronted each other at the Battle of Mu'tah as a result of Byzantine vassals murdering a Muslim emissary, in the battle the muslims had around 3000 Arab warriors in the other hand the Ghassanids (The Arab Christians or Arab Roman Proxies) had around 200,000 soldiers, It was a Byzantine victory but with a massive casualties reaching 75 thousand. Prophet Muhammad died in 632 and was succeeded by Abu Bakr, the first Caliph with undisputed control of the entire Arab peninsula.

The Ridda Wars: The events before the Conquests of Persian and Byzantine Territories

Wars of Apostasy, were a series of military campaigns launched by the Caliph Abu Bakr against rebel Arabian tribes during 632 and 633, just after the death of Prophet Muhammad. The rebels position was that they had submitted to Muhammad as the prophet of Allah, but owed nothing to Abu Bakr. Some rebels followed either Tulayha, Musaylima or Sajjah, all of whom claimed fake prophethood. Most of the tribes were defeated and reintegrated into the Caliphate. The Arabs in the western region of the peninsula did not revolt. Abu Bakr sent out the general Khalid Ibn AlWaleed to destroy the rebels and restore law and order in Arabia as fast as possible to ready the tribes to launch a full out invasion against the romans and the persians.

Rise of Umar Ibn AlKhattab

After the death of Caliph Abu Bakr, Umar ibn al-Khattab was the seconed caliph in the Rashidun Caliphate. Before we dive into the glory of the conquests we must describe who was Umar ibn AlKhattab, Umar Bin Al-Khattab used to have a captivating leadership figure, which dazzled Muslims and ranked this great man among the best leaders in Islamic history and the history of all mankind. Umar is said to be a huge figure that his legs reached the ground when he rode his camel, This describes how large Umar ibn AlKhattab was. He was fearce and loyal to Islamic laws and traditions, No toleration will be left behind under the time of Umar. He was also a strategic commander who was responsible of the destruction of the Persian empire, conquest Iraq, AlSham (Syria, Jordan, Palestine), Liberation of Egypt, Conquest of Jerusalem and most importantly the humilation of the Roman Byzantine empire loosing 95% of it's territories to the muslims.

Conquest Preparations

When Abu Bakr ended the arab rebellion in the ridda wars, All Arab tribes have gathered in Madina, The Enlightened City. Umar started gathering with the chiefs of the nomadic tribes to achieve a common purpose and that is the retreat of the persians from Iraq and the liberation of the levant lands which consist of Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon today. Madina was crowded like never before, Tens of thousands of Arab warriors and knights are under a "state of emergency". Umar ibn AlKhattab declared a state of alert all over Arabia to ready for War. The Conquests were on two fronts, the first front was in the Levant where this front witnessed many battles the Islamic Army fought against the Romans, and the second front It is Iraq and Persia.

Assault on Persia

The Islamic army marched to the north east from Madina, reaching to Khadima, a city south of Iraq, The Arab conqueror's crossed the southern border under the command of Khaled Ibn AlWaleed. Battles have been fought in Iraq and also small skirmishes to achieve tactical objectives to weaken the persian troops. Many battles such as Battle of Al-Namariq, the Battle of Al-Qadisiyah, the Battle of the Bridge, the Battle of Al-Buwaib, The River of Blood, Sack of Nahavand, Siege of Ctesiphon. When the Arabs reached the capital of the Sassanid or Last the Persian Empire which is "Madaen" they destroyed the Shah (Kesra in Arabic) idols and temples, The Arabs feasted on the devestation of the persian empire and they did not stop there, They actually started conquering even beyond Persia, reaching India, western China and the turkic lands.

Conquest of Levant

On this front, the Islamic Army fought fierce battles against the Eastern Roman Empire, which was the largest empire in the world at the time, these battles ended with the defeat of the Romans from the Levant, and the Islamic Army fought in many battles, and the most prominent of these battles: Battle of Yarmouk, the Battle of Bisan, the battle of Marj al-Rum, Conquest of Damascus , the battle of Fatah Baalbek, the battle of Homs, Invasion of eastern Anatolia, Liberation of Egypt and North Africa. At the Battle of Yarmouk, a Knight called "Dhirar son of AlAzawar" a mighty warrior who sacked the romans and killed multiple roman leaders and made a humilating poetry lines on that battle, And among the poetry in the Battle of Yarmouk:

Historic Achievements

The tribes who came out from the country we know it today as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia changed the course of the world's history, Here they are:

• Destruction of the Visigothic Empire - Spain
• Destruction of the Sassanid Empire - Persia
• Defeat of the Byzantine Empire - Anatolia
• Depleation on Kashmir Kingdom - India
• Invasion on southern Roman Empire - Sicily
• Destruction of the Türgesh Kaghanate - Transoxiana
• Destruction of the Emirate of Tbilisi - Georgia